I finally had an MRI on my back. Here are the results - can someone help me understand what all this means? Because of travel I probably won't be seeing my Doctor till a week from today. Also - what are the treatment methods?

Note: I've been having lower left back pain, hip pain, and lower left abdominal pain.

Kind in mind, not a doctor, but here goes. The first reading is a bit of unfortunate news: you have a smaller anteroposterior (front to back) diameter of your central spinal canal. This predisposes you to stenosis, which is a narrowing of, in your case, the spinal canal. You have less room than most people, so when you have a small herniation in one of your discs, you have less room for error before your nerves are affected.

The second and third items identified are that your facet joints are degenerated or enlarged and combined with disc bulges, you have stenosis at L4-L5 and L3-L4. The nerves are being compressed, which is likely causing your hip and leg pain. You can search for a dermatome map online, which will show which nerves in your hips and legs correspond to damage at the different levels of the spine.

As far as treatment, the typical progression is physical therapy, oral steroids, epidural injections, then surgery, if necessary. However, in your case, because of the diameter of your central canal, the less invasive steps may be skipped. Sorry for the bad news. Hopefully, you can get a phone consult with your doctor if you can't get in to see him.

What doesn't really add up is the description of your symptoms when compared to the results of the MRI as indicated in the radiology report.

Most people with spinal stenosis do not have any pain in the abdominal area.

Also, your stenosis is occurring in the central canal, which usually means that symptoms are in the lower back and may be generalized in the buttocks and legs. The fact that all your pain is located on the left side is confusing to me.

Is there any chance you could have a kidney stone or something similar?